The city hall was as well appointed as the rest of the town, but it wasn’t any more so. It simply looked like another building, albeit with an archway consisting of two carved pillars, with two figures clearly visible on them. One was an Uthraki woman, clad in a flowing dress, with a gemstone encrusted crown on her brow. The other was a man, holding a greatsword in both hands. Armor covered his body, save for his face, which had a large scar cutting across it.
“Who are they?” Jonathan asked, already having a good idea about the woman.
“That is the Merchant Queen, and her sworn blade, Sir Alonak. Where she provides the income that is the lifeblood of this realm, he defends it from the roaming hordes of undead that the Stillborn Hegemon left behind.”
“From all of them?” Jonathan replied, his brow furrowing. “Truly?” Even Arkanon hadn’t been able to achieve such a feat in his own realm.
“The Queen has provided him with a portable mana generator. The man is a Tier 5, in a world built for Tier 4s.”
Jonathan shook his head. This world kept surprising him, more and more. Something like a portable mana generator, an effect he had only been able to achieve with the rarest Pathway Skill in existence, must have been immensely expensive.
They stepped in through the door, and into a marble hallway. The rock was polished to a shine, and the walls were lined with tapestries and statues. Jonathan looked around appreciatively, but their guide kept going.
He led them past offices, filled with Uthraki doing something Jonathan had never expected to see. Paperwork. It certainly was a sight to behold.
Eventually, they entered a larger room, one with a massive stone desk in its center. It was covered with papers, and an inkpot sat at one end, a few droplets surrounding it. The city lord’s face colored slightly, and he swept away the mess, only managing to smear the ink over the stone.
Jonathan looked at him, bemused. Had this man never seen a day of battle in his life? He was a Tier 4, and powerful at that, but the titanic ax on his back now seemed more like a decoration than anything else. Or perhaps-
“As you might be able to tell, this business of administration is somewhat new to me,” the city lord explained. “I’ve recently returned from the front lines, serving as an field officer. Pen and paper are somewhat unfamiliar to me.” He clapped his hands together. “But enough of that. I believe introductions are in order? I’ll begin. My name is Baltus.”
Jonathan nodded. “I am Jonathan Harlowe.” One by one, the others named themselves, and by the end, Baltus was smiling.
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“An interesting crew. I don’t even recognize most of your species. Understandably, I’ve only ever faced my own kind, and the undead.”
“You said that the Stilborn Hegemon was here before, right?” Jonathan asked. “Do you know anything about his abilities?”
Baltus shrugged.”About what you might expect from a powerful undead. He is unflagging and unresting, and is able to raise the corpses of those he kills into subservient undead. In addition, his battle form is quite potent.”
Jonathan nodded. “If one was to potentially kill him, then how would they go about such an endeavor?”
“Kill him?” Baltus said, raising an eyebrow. “Why would you-” Then he tilted his head. “Wait, are you the one everyone has been talking about in the Trading Hub? The Hellbreaker? Conqueror of Mire and the Ash Heaps?”
Jonathan couldn’t help but smile. “Guilty as charged.”
“Before you leave, the queen will want to see you. She has a longstanding grudge against the Hegemon, although he will never return here, not with a Tier 5 guarding the realm.”
“I suppose there’s no reason not to?” Jonathan replied, looking around. Everyone else seemed fine with it, so he agreed. “Alright. How can we get there?”
“I’ll send one of my guides to take you to the capital. Depending on your goals, you might even be able to fight some monsters along the way,” Baltus said. “Would that be something that you’re interested in?”
“Interested in? Definitely. We’re going to need all the levels we can get.”
“In that case, I’ll get the guide for you. If you could wait but one second…” Baltus left the room, calling something out at the top of his lungs.
“Quite the fellow, eh?” Edgar said. “This is quite different from the previous realms. I wonder if we’re going to be able to gain as much power from this as the previous ones.”
“Most likely. There are still hordes of undead roaming around, after all. Seeing as most people here are mid Tier 4 or above, there must be armies of monsters that are considered too weak to kill,” Arkanon said.
“Too weak to kill?” Jonathan questioned. “Didn’t you launch a realm wide campaign against the mimics?”
“They were almost the same level as my soldiers,” Arkanon said. “In this realm, though, why would people waste their time on killing monsters that could simply be mopped up by a single fighter, if necessary?”
“Ah, I suppose you’re right,” Jonathan replied.
Before anyone else could speak, Baltus returned, this time with a much shorter Uthraki in tow.
“This is my nephew, Jarob,” Baltus said. “He can take you to the capital. Just relay any requests to him, and he’ll deliver upon them.”
Jarob gave a low bow. “My uncle has explained who you are. I have to say, I’m honored to be the guide for such an illustrious company.”
“So this is what my people are doing instead of fighting here: taking etiquette lessons-” Arkanon fumed, only to cut off when Jonathan shot him a dirty look.
Baltus laughed. “I suppose to a warrior like you, it might seem useless to imbue our people with such skills. However, it is because of my background as one that I am able to see that value. There is no honor in blindly following some meaningless tenet over all, especially if that is some societal pressure that need not exist. Rest assured, Jarob knows how to fight as well as speak.”
“I hope to show you that, sir,” Jarob added, nodding at Arkanon.
“Well,” the Uthraki warlord replied a bit reluctantly. “I can’t complain about that.”
